1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of screen repair and more specifically to a patching system and method for repairing a screen having a defect in it. Known art may be found in U.S. class 29, subclass 402.09 and related classes and subclasses.
2. Prior Art
Various types of screens have been employed in the past although screens composed of woven wire have proven both effective and cost efficient. In woven wire screens, warp wires run lengthwise during the weaving process and are crossed at right angles by the shute wires.
Screens in doors, windows and elsewhere often become torn, cut, or otherwise damaged throughout their useful life. When the screens are damaged, insects or other undesirable creatures can pass through the screen, thereby defeating the function of the screen. The known art has recognized this problem and several proposed solutions have been made therein.
Damage to a conventional wire mesh screen is typically in the nature of a tear or rip which will often take the form of an elongated separation of adjoining metal wires in the mesh. It is unlikely that a wire mesh screen will be damaged radially in that the damaging event typically dissipates energy in a longitudinal fashion as successive wires in the mesh break. Thus, the repair of a tear or rip or other damage in a wire mesh screen can often be accomplished by placing the broken wire mesh fragments in close proximity to one another and subsequently holding the fragments adjacent one another. The known art addresses small rips or tears but it does not adequately address large rips or tears. A large radial area of damage with a section of wire mesh broken away from the window or door is not as common. In such circumstances, the known art fails to provide an adequate device for patching and repairing such breaks.
One solution to the dilemma is to replace the entire screen itself. This involves taking the screen from its position and then subsequently removing the damaged screen from its framing and replacing it with undamaged screen. This is time-consuming and especially wasteful if the damaged section of screen is not overly large. Several repair solutions have also been proposed.
A common repair technique has been to secure a single patch of screen material or the like as a cover on the screen over the defect. The known patches are generally difficult to employ and often unsightly. Further, the known patches can have protruding wires, fasteners and the like that can injure the repair person or others using the screen. Examples of known art can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,324,845 to Osgood; U.S. Pat. No. 1,792,594 to Litwin; U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,272,196 and 2,283,803 to Gittins, and the like.
These devices do not adequately address several problems associated with adequately repairing damaged wire mesh screens such as those found on windows and doors. Furthermore, the devices fail to provide unitary patches that may be placed in an abutting configuration to efficiently repair large longitudinal and radial tears and rips.
The present invention addresses the above referenced need in the art for an improved system for patching wire mesh screens. The present invention enables the user to quickly and efficiently repair a wire mesh screen on a window or door. The present invention also permits the user to repair large elongated tears in a wire mesh screen as well as to repair radial tears in a wire mesh screen.
Conventional wire mesh screens commonly found on doors, windows and elsewhere are normally 2-{fraction (3/1000)} ths of an inch in diameter. Typically, the wire mesh is formed from aluminum or similar soft metal that is relatively light. The typical perimeter of a hole or opening formed by a conventional window or door wire mesh screen is approximately {fraction (5/1000)} ths of an inch and such holes typically have a square cross-section.
The present invention includes a flexible body that forms an exterior perimeter for a flexible mesh screen. The body includes a plurality of spaced apart and, ideally, uniform fasteners. The fasteners permit a user to secure the body adjacent a damaged section of screen.
The body may assume several geometric shapes. Preferred cross-sectional outlines include a circle or a square for the body. The body may also assume the outline of a rectangle or an oval as well.
In one exemplary embodiment, four fasteners extending from the body are employed to secure the body to a screen section although a greater number may be employed if desirable. In another exemplary embodiment, the body has a circular outline with regularly spaced apart fasteners.
In another exemplary embodiment, the body has a square outline with fasteners located at each corner of the square. Other configurations are possible as well.
The apparatus of the present invention may be used to repair elongated tears or to reattach sections of screen broken away by a radial tear. When repairing an elongated tear, a single body may be deployed or multiple bodies may be deployed in an abutting fashion. When repairing a radial tear, a plurality of bodies may be deployed in an abutting relationship to reattach the damaged section of mesh to the mesh sections still in place upon the window or door.
Thus, a principal object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that may be easily deployed to repair a conventional wire mesh screen.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that may be deployed in an abutting fashion to facilitate the repair of an elongated or radial tear in a conventional wire mesh screen.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that may be deployed with a minimal amount of instruction and tools.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that facilitates continued use of existing wire mesh screens.